I could not be more thrilled to bring you some insider tips and advice on achieving your dream wedding look! Maricruz Polito is not only an incredibly talented hairstylist, she is also a lovely human being. We’ve had the pleasure of collaborating on styled shoots together, as well as on her headshots, and the best one yet, on the wedding of my sweet bride Rebecca last summer! You’ll see Maricruz in action below as she helped Rebecca with her veil. She recently opened a new studio of her own in Waltham, MA but is happy to go on location for her brides, wherever that may be. She was recently featured in Boston Weddings Magazine and she has taken the time to share some specific tips with all of you. Also, on a side note, she has incredible taste and dresses to the nines for every wedding she works (and just all the time in general!) and I love her style! Read on to get the inside scoop from her on how to prep your hair for your wedding day, how to find the hairstylist who is right for you, and how to work most effectively with your hairstylist to achieve your dream wedding look.

1) What is your best tip for a bride starting the process of choosing her bridal hairstyle?

A) Choose any bridal hairstyle you really want, your dream hairstyle, even if you think your hair might not be thick enough or long enough for it. Once you find the right hairstylist who will be working with you he/she will let you know the steps to follow to get that hairstyle or as close to that hairstyle as possible. I feel that a lot of women stop themselves from choosing something they really want because they don’t give enough credit to their own hair. They’re concerned that their hair is not going to do what it is needed to get the look they truly want. Nowadays there are great products and extensions that can bring the desired hairstyle to life with the help of an expert.

B) Start thinking about which direction you’re leaning towards in terms of updos, half updos, etc. Narrow down to a maximum of three hairstyle ideas before you start doing trials. Not knowing which direction to go can be confusing for the hairstylists working with you and can cause you to have a disappointing experience at your trials.

c) When looking at inspiration pictures, choose hairstyles that have similar hair color to yours. Many brides that have very dark hair colors fall in love with hairstyles that are presented on super blond models and color does have an impact on texture and dimension. You’re more likely to be able to achieve the look you found in a photo, if that look was done on a model or bride with the same color hair as you.

2) What are the 2-3 most important questions for a bride to ask a stylist who they are considering hiring for their wedding?

Some questions will be different for each bride, depending on whatever is most important to her on her wedding day, as well as the factors that she MUST have in oder to hire the person she’ll work with. Most often, questions about price, quality of work, reliability, and skill are important ones to consider asking. Also, as a bride, it’s important to be forthcoming with details and information about your wedding when you are inquiring. Hairstylists you’re reaching out to can get back to you with all the information you need in order to make a decision, only if you provide the information necessary for sending a quote. For example, include information on where the ladies will be getting their hair done on the wedding day (city-town), how many people will be getting services, and any detail you feel might be important in terms of hairstyles or services being requested. As a hairstylist, I get many emails from brides containing just the date and asking or prices, but in order to give pricing and information I need to have those additional details.

3) Do you recommend any specific hair care routines in the weeks and months prior to the wedding?

It is entirely up to the bride. However, a few things to keep in mind: if you are thinking about coloring your hair for the wedding for the first time, do it a month before the wedding date in case you do not love the changes that were done. A month out, there’s time to fix them and get the right color for your wedding day. If you already have color on your hair, do any retouches a week before the wedding, that way there will not be roots or overgrowth. Any moisturizing processes like masks, glosses, oil treatments etc, must be at least one week before the wedding to avoid your hair being too slippery or too silky on the wedding day.

4) How far in advance of the wedding day do you suggest brides book their hairstylist? Schedule their trial runs?

ASAP as soon as you get engaged! Time permitting, start working on your vendors, including your hairstylist right away. Great, reliable, skillful professionals book quickly because recommendations get around among friends and when a good hairstylists leaves a great impression on a bride that bride is going to tell the world, so people with a good reputation book fast.

As for trials, I suggest the sooner the better. That way you are able to see the personality of the stylist and the quality of work for yourself. Pictures can look beautiful, but experiencing it in person sometimes can be different. If for some reason the person you were thinking about hiring did not deliver some of the aspects you were hoping for, you have time to keep the searching going. The closer you get to your wedding date the chances of working with the people you really want get slimmer. Even though some dates are more requested than others, it provides peace of mind to have the right vendors locked in place for you.

5) What are some small but important things that a bride can keep in mind to stay on schedule during the wedding day?

There is a domino effect on the wedding day, if some vendors in the morning (like hair and makeup) run late something else is going to have to get cut off or shortened in order to catch up. When you hire a reliable bridal hairstylist the chances of running late are very slim, unless the bridal party fails to cooperate. Here are some helpful tips to communicate with the bridal party. These are small but impactful recommendations that your hairstylist will appreciate you sharing. First, I recommend that each person getting their hair styled have their hair fully dry and clean when the hairstylist arrives. As a full time bridal hairstylist I can always adjust the texture to my liking with the help of different hair products, and if the hair is already dry I can start working on the styling right away. When someone is having a bridal party wearing full updos or half ups and they show up with wet hair – I need to dry it and that adds a tremendous amount of time to the timeline that was not anticipated. So have the hair dry unless otherwise advised by your stylist. Next, cut all the tags off from veils and hair accessories so that they’re ready to be put in place. If your bridal party is not staying near the getting ready place the night before, ask them to arrive to the getting ready room much earlier than their appointment time. Chances are they will show up just on time and having them there early means you may get ahead of schedule if things go faster than anticipated. You know your crowd, we don’t, so take the necessary steps to set yourself for a stress free day. Finally, if you have small children getting hair services it is usually best that their appointment is last. This way the adults can be ready and children require less time and are happier to leave the chair sooner.

Thank you so much, Maricruz!

Now be sure to check out her studio and follow her on Instagram!